processes. However, by having all of this digitalized and having robotic processability that makes a square house or a round house with the same speed, we can move on to another stage. The real estate indus- try has ensured that most Chileans can live in a house, but now comes another industrialization, which is to ensure that the set of products is also different and that we can be more comfortable and have a better quality of life in different places”. 3D technology presents notable innovations in terms of thermal insu- lation, among others. Until today, the industry provides an equal thickness to the entire contour of buildings; however, new technology can vary the envelope because, for example, the south is colder and the north is warmer. "So just making a shell that varies according to its environment, quickly adjusting the process so that it can be executed with that variability, is a demonstration that you can optimize that design without spending excessively on materials in places where they are not needed”. Casa Semilla And The Future UBB recently called for an internal competition to create a 3D-printed concrete house. The winning design is called "Casa Semilla", the author is architect Paula Ulloa, and the prototype is being built at the univer- sity headquarters thanks to a tripartite agreement since the printer was purchased with State funds and the construction is being done in collaboration with the Aconcagua real estate development company that was willing to contribute its know-how. "It is not a unique example of ideal function, but it shows the versatile and productive capacity that this technology has. That is why it is called Casa Semilla, as a germ of this new biology, of this new constructive nature that can emerge and can be very different", says Rodrigo García. Regarding the competition itself, the idea was to invite young architects who were interested in three-dimensional design and programming, and who understood the concept of this technology, to make an initial proposal. Paula Ulloa takes classes in computer design and, says that her professor quickly agreed that the prototype should consist of a combination of curved and straight profiles. "Her intuition was important and we recognize her for the concept she contributed, but the author- ship is always collective in this type of initiative. We are all working and solving the details of doors and windows, wall composition, and other elements," he says. In this sense, he emphasizes that it is essential to combine people´s experiences with a more constructive record of accomplishment and people with new ideas. Monitoring the anti-seismic capabilities of the prototype and ensuring that the speed and quality requirements are also met has been a basic requirement in this initiative. It is expected that different pilot versions will emerge from Casa Semilla and that entrepreneurs interested in contributing different elements will appear. Two main mechanisms are used to scale up from prototypes to mass application. "One, the incubation of companies arising from the students themselves and their theses or particular work, with entrepreneurship funds," explains the academic. "And two, in providing services to large companies through the evaluation and prototyping of new products or developments. In combining both paths, we hope to motivate a collab- orative synergy”. In order to develop the application of this technology on a larger scale, it is necessary to make it known and massify it. There needs to be a system that integrates large companies, universities, and development centers. "Organizing teams of architects and builders to provide on-site execution services, entrepreneurs to develop some specific products, in other words, putting the system together. We are not going to achieve this in a single step, we need to create a series of initiatives and each one of us needs to participate in the more conservative structures that must guarantee the processes' institutional framework, but also facilitate teams of entrepreneurs -both within companies and externally- to use these technologies," he adds.
Another strong idea brought up by Rodrigo García is that new initiatives should not be oriented towards a complete housing solution, but that entrepreneurs should focus on producing parts or elements of houses. Prefabricated walls, sanitary units; modules for remote places, or second homes. "Our ingenuity in innovation makes us think that technological developments are like Elon Musk or Steve Jobs, to solve everything with a single company. Those are long-term horizons, but we are at the beginning of a transformation process in which collaboration between many actors is important”. At the same time, he proposes a certain audacity to live this stage for all actors: companies, universities, and the State. I understand that one must have intellectual property and commercial product protections, but it is not convenient to be excessively cautious," he reflects. "When there are technological efforts we have to be more collaborative and open the door to innovators. It is up to the universities to open the laboratory doors, provide facilities, and have hours of equipment use, and channels so that students can be recruited to talk and work with entrepreneurs. These synergies are fundamental, and it seems to me that we are only now cultivating them”.
DATA SHEET Universidad del Bío-Bío, Concepción, Chile Construction Technology Research Center (CITEC)
Director: Ariel Bobadilla - PhD PEP-Lab Prototyping Laboratory
Coordinator: Juan Guillermo Sandoval - MS. Manufacturing Additive Construction Group Coordinator: Claudia Muñoz Sanguinetti - Const. Eng. PhD
Researchers: Rodrigo García Alvarado - Archt. PhD / Alexander Opazo - Civil Eng. PhD / Paulina Wegertseder - Archt. PhD / Aracely Rocha (coord. group) - MS. Const. Engr. / Javier Sepúlveda - Civil Engr. / Karina Neira - MS. Design / Alejandro García - Const. Engr. / Paula Ulloa (architectural design) - MS. Archt. / Martín Avendaño (parametric design) - Archt. / Esteban Zapata (construction design) - Archt. 3D-Printed Housing Prototype “Casa Semilla” Associated Company: Aconcagua Real Estate Developer Collaborating Companies: Tehmco (Windows) / CBB (Cementos Bío-Bío) / SIKA (additives / MK (furniture) / Isolcork (thermal coatings) Funding from the National Research Agency (ANID) from the Chilean government: FONDEQUIP EQM 210225 / EXPLORATORIO 13220156 / FONDECYT 1221730 !
CRISTIÁN IZQUIERDO PREFABRICATION FOR EXPRESSIVE ARCHITECTURE
By: Yves Besançon + Soledad Miranda + Sebastián Rozas
Recognized for his work in wood that exposes construction know-how, he points out that he does not keep a static catalog because each learning process means new possibilities and challenges. However, he is interested in creating an architecture that is, to a certain extent, replicable. They are certain ideas of the city that transcend concrete cases and that transcend even, I hope, our work and can also be replicated by others," he says.”
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